the artist in the ambulance

One of the first songs that i heard from The Artist In The Ambulance was the title track, something about the lyrics hit me and i can imagine myself being that person in the song, here are the lyrics:

Late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal
Red light, can't stop so I spin the wheel
My world goes black before I feel an angel lift me up
And I open bloodshot eyes into fluorescent white
They flip the siren, hit the lights, close the doors and I am gone

Now I lay here owing my life to a stranger
And I realize that empty words are not enough
I'm left here with the question of just
What have I to show except the promises I never kept?
I lie here shaking on this bed, under the weight of my regrets

I hope that I will never let you down
I know that this can be more than just flashing lights and sound

Look around and you'll see that at times it feels like no one really cares
It gets me down but I'm still gonna try to do what's right, I know that there's
A difference between sleight of hand, and giving everything you have
There's a line drawn in the sand, I'm working up the will to cross it and

I hope that i will never let you down
I know that this can be more than just flashing lights and sound

Rhetoric can't raise the dead
I'm sick of always talking when there's no change
Rhetoric can't raise the dead
I'm sick of empty words, let's lead and not follow

Late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal
Red light, can't stop so I spin the wheel
My world goes black before I feel an angel steal me from the
Greedy jaws of death and chance, and pull me in with steady hands
They've given me a second chance, the artist in the ambulance

I hope that i will never let you down
I know that this could be more than flashing lights and sounds
Can we pick you off the ground, more than flashing lights and sound

Once i got the album, i was reading the linear notes and noticed that the book "Burn Collector" by Al Burian was mentioned and how one of the stories he wrote was apart of the song, i liked the song so much that i decided to check out the story in that book(which i thought was a great read) and understood the song much better after i read the piece. here is the piece that the song lyrics tackle so to speak:

"The question of the artist versus the ambulance driver, i've come to realize, isn't a simple question of how to live. it's a question, too, of how to promote living, how to stave off dying. The ambulance driver does it by simply entering the fray, plucking the wounded off the pavement and trying to sew them up. This is a noble thing. It's this nobility which makes the artist look bad, because how do you pluck the wounded off the pavement abstractly? How do you pluck yourself off the pavement? In order to live, in order to justify living, we can't just fill the space of our lives with empty amusement, with pointless light and sound and words- we're going to have to try harder now."

i read this and i started thinking how there is truth in that with how some people in society hold celebrities on a pedestol and watch their every step, either to watch them reach the high point in their career, hoping to see them fail, or the type of fans or observers that follow a person's career and stick with them in the ups and downs. nowadays you can see celebs donating money to causes that they support or when a natural disaster occurs in the world, it's good to see that change. to see artists stepping up to the plate knowing that they have the kind of pull to where they can influence a fan to also support a cause that they care about to. it's a great thing to do(and see) but there is so much to be done that some may view it as barely scratching the surface in humanitarian work.

one thing that as a fan that you notice about Thrice is that each of their albums they have given a portion of their albums sales to a charity of their choice and have had their label match the donation, they are not exactly the biggest band in the world but for a band of their size in the music industry today, it speaks volumes for what they are doing because they don't have to do what they do.

that summer of 03 i remember listening to that song a lot and made this drawing of a star with an ambulance cross for a heart on a stretcher(which i will eventually get a tattoo of when money permits), i eventually got around to writing and thinking up a story for this and had this song in my head that i wrote lyrics for(the story i vaguely remember and the lyrics are somewhere in a notebook in my room) i thought to myself that a person who is considered a star usually talks about having a fire or desire to catch their dreams, and with that i thought of starinyourfire: you are the one behind the flame that burns inside of you, it's your choice to make your own glory.

The song to this day is still one of my all time favorite thrice songs and my favorite song off that album it has a lot of meaning to me, it was a turning point that shaped me to the person that i am, i write poetry and play in a band to express myself. i hope that i can create something that another person can relate to or enjoy and make their own interpretations or take something from it for themselves. that's one of the joy's of being an artist that i would like to experience and if i can reach people on a bigger scale touring or through books maybe get them into charities that i support like some bands that i listen to have gotten me interested in.